Longhorns TE Ja'Tavion Sanders Declares for 2024 NFL Draft

Texas Longhorns TE Ja'Tavion Sanders Declares for 2024 NFL Draft

AUSTIN, Texas -- Texas Longhorns tight end Ja'Tavion Sanders has declared for the 2024 NFL Draft, per ESPN's Pete Thamel.

Sanders, a member of Texas' 2021 recruiting class, ends his collegiate career as arguably the best tight end in program history. Despite mostly playing on special teams as a true freshman, he burst onto the scene in 2022 before earning first-team All-Big 12 honors. In 2023, he finished with a career-high 682 receiving yards.

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The Denton, Texas product finishes his three-year career in Austin with 99 catches for 1,295 yards and seven touchdowns.

Per Texas Athletics, Sanders; three 100-yard games this season were the most-ever by a Longhorns tight end. He also set two other tight end records for career receptions (99) and single-season receiving yards (682).

His best games this past season came in some of the biggest moments. Sanders had a career-high 114 receiving yards on five catches in the 34-24 win over Alabama on Sept. 9. He backed that up with five catches for 110 yards in the 38-6 win over Baylor the following week.

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Sanders had some quiet games throughout the season from a statistical standpoint before posting a career-high eight catches for 105 yards and a touchdown in the 49-21 win over Oklahoma State in the Big 12 Championship.

While fans would love to see Sanders stay another season to try and make it back to the College Football Playoff in the SEC, he's just another talented piece on Steve Sarkisian's offense that's departing for the pros. He's projected to be one of the first tight ends off the board once April's draft rolls around.